Shawn Sullivan Artist-Painter

Drawings

2012-02-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

I've started the block-in for a new painting, "Lily Painting a Cast" 16"x20". The model got lost on the way to my studio so I was only able to get in two hours. At the start of the next session I'm going to triple check my measurements before I do any refining. Basically I have her posing as if she's painting flesh colors onto a cast of the "Dying Gaul". I'm thinking about having her turn her eyes up towards me as if someone just called to her, rather than looking down at the cast, as she is now. "Dome with Bottles" 11"x14" is slowly crawling along. I'm not in any rush.

Julia and Mask

2012-02-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

Almost done with Julia, just have to wait for a cloudy day to complete the background. "Mask, Roses, and Beads" 9"x12", oil on linen, was started in response to a juried show theme "Mardi Gras". Every once in a while I will take on a theme to break out of my usual subject matter. The first pass is almost done, next week I'll have to get new flowers and go fo a finishing pass (no football puns intended).

Still More Julia

2012-01-29T13:59:00.001-08:00

I'm getting a little closer to the finish on "Julia". The hardest part is getting used to painting the model in daylight while using daylight as the sole illumination on my canvas. I'm used to painting in pretty glaring light so this has been a bit of a challenge. Sometimes I'll turn my studio light on after a session and the values will look a little off. I want to resist the temptation to retouch under different lighting. What I think I'll do in the future is put the studio light on every once in a while, have a look, and then do the retouching back in the daylight. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I haven't painted a portrait in daylight before so I know it's going to take me a while to get it right. I'm loving the daylight setup so much that I'm using it for still lifes as well, that's one of the reasons why "dome" is being finished as a drawing because I'm doing it at night after work.

More Julia

2012-01-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

More Julia and Jug

2012-01-16T04:22:00.001-08:00

"Julia Back From Moscow" oil on linen, 11"x14", "Jug, Pan, and Vase" oil on linen, 9"x12". I'm at a stage in Julia's portrait that I find very exciting. Blindly windowshading my way along, using my study to stay on course, and watching the portrait slowly reveal itself. I'm always hoping to get everything exactly right the first time, but that almost never happens. As I was telling one of my students the other day, you don't want to have a half-hearted stage, planning to be bold later on because that first stage will carry through. It's better to go for broke and then if you have to make changes at least they will be over something worthwhile. The painting is, as I had hoped, starting to take on the mood of the sitter, even the background, so I can't wait for the next session. "Jug..." is finished. This one took a lot of hard looking. I'm painting in north exposed daylight and I'm really paying careful attention to textures and edges. I'm pretty happy with this one and I think it's pointing the way that works best for me; simple objects, well observed.

New Year, New Photos

2012-01-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

I've been alternating between these three works, "Dome with Bottles" 11"x14", "Julia Back From Moscow" oil on canvas 11"x14", and "Jug, Pan, and Vase" oil on canvas, 9"x12". The jug is my sunny day painting, the background in the portrait my cloudy day, and the drawing I've been working on at night with artificial lighting. Eventually I will turn "Dome" into a painting but for now I've decided to complete it as a fully rendered drawing, pulling out all the stops. It's been a while and I'm prepared to stay on this one for as long as I need.

Models Away

2011-12-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

While the models away the artist will play! My models not coming back for two weeks so I threw her necklace and shirt onto a mannequin and went to work. Then I was thinking about starting in on the background cloth and I happened to be looking out of the window and I thought "hmm, why not?" I've been looking at a book on Ingres lately and those early portraits with the Roman backgrounds are just smokin'. Unfortunately I don't live in Rome so my measley backyard will have to do for now. I decided to block it in on an overcast day because I want to keep it somewhat muted and in the background with little contrast. I had to put a mannequin by the window with a skull balanced on it to get the proportions right, I hope none of my nosy neighbors were looking in.

Slow Crawlings

2011-12-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

I'm taking it reallll slow. My models not coming back for a few weeks but I got her to leave her shirt and necklace so I can keep busy. Happy Holidays!

My Adult Students

2011-12-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

These are two examples of paintings from the adult painting class I'm teaching at the National Art League, by Karen and Rhoda. There's a third one by my daughter Krista, which isn't completed yet. It's so nice to teach a class with a block of time longer than 40 minutes, and it's also great to be finally teaching adults. I love teenagers but they are soooo high maintenance!. Most of the classes at the N.A.L. work from photos so setting up a life painting class was quite a challenge. I had to bring my own spotlight, attach it to the ceiling, turn off all of the room lights and clip a small individual lamp with 15 watt bulbs to each easel. It took them a little getting used to working in relative darkness but it was the best way to keep the still life simply lit with a single light source. Both are on 11"x14" canvases. I had them draw directly with charcoal, do a wipe-out, make a small color study, mix up color strings, and then paint each form directly, tiling across the forms, wet-in-wet. For the next one I'm having them draw on paper first, and then transfer, so we can work on some basic block-in skills as well as painting issues.

Wipeouts, Block-Ins, and Studies

2011-12-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

"Julia Back From Moscow" 11"x14" oil on linen, "Julia Study" oil on canvas board, 5"x7", "Jug, Pan, and Vase" oil on linen, 9"x12", study 5"x7". As you can see it's been a busy weekend. I tweaked Julia's portrait until I finally got a likeness and I was happy with the block-in. The wipeout always loses a little something and then you have to find your way back again. The study went pretty well considering it's taking me a little getting used to painting a portrait in daylight. Next session I'm going to just go for it and start windowshading my way across.

Block-ins

2011-12-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

"Julia" 11"x14", "Jug, Pan, and Vase" 9"x12". Okay so after my little diversions I decided to get back to basics. Julia was blocked in in about 2 and a half hours. I was hoping to have it transfer ready but I'm going to seek further refinement in another drawing session. It already looks quite a bit like her but as Sargent used to say " a portrait is a painting where there's a little something wrong with the mouth". The still life and portrait are both being done under natural light, which lately seems to be my favorite. I realize now that I can have my faster sketchier work and my slower work, but to combine them is to take the middle road which can never be good. It's best to just let the two modes compliment each other.

Julia and Grapes

2011-11-27T12:08:00.000-08:00

"Julia" 16"x20" oil on linen on board, "Grapes and Yellow Vase" 11"x14" oil on linen on board.

I worked on getting Julia's portrait in. My goal was to start broadly and then work my way to the smaller forms. I also wanted to pretty much complete the face all of a piece in a single session. I started by painting a velatura over my underpainting, Basically thinned down middle tone flesh color so the shadows would partly show through and give me a map to paint over. I think I'll finish the rest of the figure before I go back to the face. I can see why Sargent wiped out his portraits so often. It's difficult to make it look broadly painted yet specific to the light and the model. Anyways I'll keep playing around with this until I kill it or something clicks.

strawberries

2011-11-27T04:26:00.001-08:00

"Strawberries" 8"x10" oil on linen on panel. I decided to make this a one shot, alla prima painting, so I was determined to complete it in a single session, and I just made it as the light was starting to fade as I put on the finishing touches. The tricky thing about painting in daylight is that it's a little bit harder to see, so I always leave time at the end of the session to look at the painting under the lamps and see if theres anything that needs fixing. I have a show coming up and I wanted to show my students an example of bravura painting.

Joe and Clawfeet

2011-11-24T03:57:00.000-08:00

Both paintings are on 8"x10" panels. Joe was a three hour sketch done with my Tuesday night figure group. I've been trying to keep my procedure as simple as possible to get as much of a portrait as I can in a three hour time span. I guess the models must think I'm crazy because there they are posing nude and I'm painting their portrait. I've always felt the portrait was my achilles heel in my figure paintings so I've decided to really push myself harder in that direction.

The still life was something that I observed just hanging out underneath another setup and I decided to go for it. I'm trying to be more open and less programmatic about my process. I don't want to mix up my inspiration in a lab vile and hope to have the right formula. My focus is on the things that I love about painting and to make that the subject of the paintings, with that in mind, it really doesn't matter what I paint.

New Faces

2011-11-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

"Victoria" oil on linen on board, 8" x 10", "Julia" oil on linen on board, 16" x 20", Victoria was done in three hours with my saturday portrait group. I feel like I nailed it on this one, and now I've got to decide whether or not to work more on it at the next session or start a new one. The biggest concern is that my buddy Carlos isn't sure whether we have one more session with this model or three more. Aargh! Julia is a portrait that I've just started at my home studio. I have her posing facing a north window directly across from my easel. Like I tell my students. right now this painting is in it's ugly phase. Most paintings go through that. If you stick with it eventually it'll come around. I spent about two and a half hours on the block-in and then I started rushing a little at the end in panic mode, never a good idea. But I'm really enjoying the whole daylight painting thing. In fact, I'm going to make it the focus of my still lifes as well. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

"Cup with Pomegranates"

2011-11-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

"Cup with Pomegranates" oil on linen, 11"x14". I drew directly on the canvas with thinned paint and just went for it. It's set up in my studio under modified natural ligh tflorescent bulbs. The modification is that I've noticed even the most daylight rated bulbs leave out some of the warmth of the reds and oranges so I aded a small incandescent spot to the mic and I seem to be getting a fuller spectrum now. I'm painting a bit more spontaneously now, I've got a new bumper sticker "WWSD?" What Would Sargent Do?

Portrait Studies

2011-11-12T04:15:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of small (8"x10") portraits done in a single session, on a white, untoned, canvas board. My procedure is to draw directly on the canvas using raw umber thinned with oms. I'm drawing with a small synthetic bright made by Robert Simmons for acrylic paint. It makes very gestural, softish marks where I can do a light block-in. Once that's resolved I take a small synthetic round and re-draw my lines and terminator lines. I try to keep detail to a minimum at this point and concentrate on getting accurate shadow shapes. Than I wash in the shadow shapes with umber, add some secondary tones, and background. My next step is to identify the overall local flesh color of the model and thinly brush in the shadow tone and middle tone. Once I'm happy with that I begin to refine the larger planes working my way towards smaller forms without losing the big masses. I've been doing a lot of quick painting lately, demos and such, and it's really impacting my approach to painting.

Orange Crate

2011-11-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

Wow! A lot of glare on this one! Anyways, this is a small 9"x12" still life that I have set up next to a window in my studio. My easel is arranged to be in the same light which makes it kind of nice when I'm trying to match the values and colors. I drew on the canvas directly with a brush dipped in oms and raw umber over a white canvas and then quickly washed in a full color thinned down underpainting. I'm using bristle flats on this one and trying to be a bit more spontaneous and less uptight about the details. My plan is to go for the big look first and then add details where I want them.

Pancho

2011-10-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

"Pancho" 11"x14", oil on linen. This one seemed almost to paint itself. Sometimes it goes like that. I windowshaded my way across the underpainting and had very little retouching to do at the end. I had the words of my former instructor, Robert Armetta, ringing in my ear, when he used to tell me, as I painted a detailed area to "paint it's portrait", so that's what I did with the wooden crate. If you're wondering why this photo looks so much better than the rest it's because I've finally found an affordable professional photographer to hire. His name is Devin Cecil-Wishing, he's a third year student at Grand Central Academy, he does all of their artwork photography, and best of all if you're in the New york metro area, he will travel to your studio. Drop me a line if you're interested, and i'll give you his contact info.

Small Faces

2011-09-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Two quick three hour sketches and a study after Charles Bargue. All on 8"x10" canvas panels. I'm starting to enjoy the quick portrait sketches a little more although I still find the whole process somewhat torturous overall. It completely goes against the grain of my perfectionist methods which I'm guessing in the end will prove to be a good thing.

Chasing The Model

2011-09-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

"Portrait Study" 9"x12" oil on linen on board, "Caesar's Last Bath" oil on linen on board 16"x20", "Pancho" 16"x20" oil on linen. Not doing a great job with the photographing but I thought I'd blog these anyway. I will rephoto after varnishing and post better shots. The portrait study was made at my saturday mornings group session. The model came in having had only one hour's sleep (not her fault). The session was for three hours. She started with her head inclined and her eyes open, but her eyes kept closing and her head was flopping around like one of those bobble heads. I kept hearing my former instructors voice like Obi Wan telling me to use my experience to paint the portrait rather than relying on observation alone, so I gave it my best shot and rushed to nail down what I could in 3 hours. Than my friend Carlos tells me afterwards that he's going to have the model back for another 4 hour session. I wanted to shoot myself in the foot. So in this session I worked on getting the hair in, correcting the drawing and smoothing some of the transitions. The model seemed better rested but she still could not hold the pose. I guess if I ever decide to paint someones portrait on the subway I'm going to be well prepared.

"Dog,Turban, and Rose"

2011-09-11T04:53:00.000-07:00

"Dog, Turban, and Rose" 11"x14" oil on canvas. Finished this one just in the nick of time because the angle of the sunlight was shifting significantly. The window I'm using is northeast so at certain times of the year and day it's somewhat muted and than at other times, like now, it can be quite glaring.

"Pancho"

2011-09-01T03:35:00.001-07:00

Study (8"x10") canvas board, block-in (16"x20") pencil on strathmore, wipe-out (16"x20") oil on linen. I'm continuing to make studies that are a little bit larger. Using a digital photo, I'm able to print a nice 8"x10" that I transfer to a 9"x12" board. I feel that the larger studies are helping me to get more of a handle on what I want the final picture to look like. I'm moving away a bit from the more abstract poster studies of the Ryder school to something more in the nature of a painted sketch. I saw some of Jacob Collins studies at the Adelson gallery exhibit and they inspired me quite a bit. This painting didn't start off with a theme, it just kind of composed itself and the theme became crystal clear as I went along. Sometimes a bit of that "channeling" will happen and I just run with it.

Turbans, etc;

2011-08-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

I've completed work on "Turbans, Mermaid, and Rose" oil on linen, 16"x20". Even with all the careful planning, drawings, posters, wipeout, ebauche, etc; the end result is always something of a surprise, in this case, pleasantly. I decided to do a colored ebauche for "Turban, Dog, and Rose" oil on linen, 11"x14", since I was happy with my last experiment. This painting is strictly daylit and a bit of a challenge to see my palette and colors with the clarity that I'm used to, but i think in the end there will be a payoff. I have one last session with Caesar, 16"x20", so I'm hoping I can finish the legs. If I had hired this model myseld I would completely repaint the picture and consider the first pass a finished ebauche. That's because I'm having a hard time with this linen board and I'm not getting as much paint on in the finishing layer as I prefer. Still, it's an okay sketch, and grist for the mill, as they say.

Rainy Day Painting

2011-08-22T03:57:00.000-07:00

Since I'm currently working on a still life that requires daylight, I need something to occupy my time on rainy days so I started a study of this Bargue painting which I've always loved. The reproduction is only a couple of inches so it's been a little tough, but even at that scale Bargues brilliance shines through. As I was working on the drawing block-in I was starting to tune in to all of these internal rhythms and inner curves that crisscross throughout the painting. For a brief moment i felt a kind of mind-meld thing happening and I guess that's the great thing about art is that something can reach out across the centuries and affect someone in a very immediate way.

More "Turbans, Mermaid, and Rose"

2011-08-18T04:26:00.001-07:00

Some people might be wondering what's up with the turbans, if they're symbolic in any way. No, I just like painting cloth and the homemade turbans create interesting juxtapositions of light and color. Also, they are featured quite a bit in the work of artists that I admire such as Bargue, Gerome, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. I like having a model wear one of my home made creations because it involves a bit of role playing and by taking the model outside of their ordinary existence it allows me a glimpse into their real personality which will hopefully make for a better painting.

"Erica" Completed

2011-08-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

"Erica with Turban" 9"x12" oil on linen. That's a wrap on this one. I followed pretty much the method of my training and I went straight through from start to finish without any reworking. I worked really hard to make sure each little area was exactly how I wanted it while the paint was still wet. Erica probably wishes I had made her a little more "glam" or feminine, but that wasn't really what I had in mind. I've probably been looking at too many "bashi-bazouks". I'm going to line up a new model and jump back in while my feet are still wet. The study was done on a 8"x10" canvas panel. I usually work smaller but that's the size that my printer spit out and I went with it. I've got to get this one nailed down before the light changes. This time of year it changes very fast.

"Turban, Dog, and Rose"

2011-08-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the wipe-out and block-in drawing for "Turban, Dog, and Rose" 11"x14" on linen. This setup is next to a window with semi north light, so theres a lot of chiaroscuro. My easel is setup next to an adjacent window with full on daylight so I can see what I'm doing. The light isn't good in the mornings so I think I'll work on this one in the afternoon and my artificial light setup in the mornings. It'll be interesting to compare the lighting and coloration schemes.

"Turbans..." Ebauche and Color Study

2011-08-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

The color study is on a panel about 5"x7". I took a photo of my block-in drawing, printed it, and then used it to make a charcoal transfer. It made it a lot easier to come up with a mini version to use for a color study. The ebauche on the larger painting (16"x20") has a bit of that dead coloring that comes from working over a wipe-out. I prefer it to doing a color ebauche directly on the white canvas because I kind of like that neutrality to guage my colors against when I do my finishing pass (next stage).

"Turbans, Mermaid, and Rose"

2011-08-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

16" x 20" on oil primed linen. The drawing block in was transferred using tracing paper and charcoal. Some artists will make a smaller drawing and than enlarge it at a copy center. I like to draw at the actual size because I feel it's a bit like a dress rehearsal for making the painting. After drawing, tracing, transferring and inking, I have the memory of those form lines embedded in my brain, kind of like a golfer practicing strokes. My inking of my transferred drawing is always a little wobbly. I wish I had Doug Flynt's steady hand. It doesn't matter too much because I leave the block-in kind of Bargued out (straight lines only) so that I can do a lot of edge drawing with my brush in the finishing pass. The colors of the homemade turbans are pretty intense and look great under the lights so I hope that I can get half of what I'm seeing, it'll be a good painting. Next step is to make a small study in full color and than I'll just start window shading my way across the canvas.

"Ceasar"

2011-08-04T03:39:00.001-07:00

16"x20" oil on linen on gatorboard. The model insists on being called Ceasar, who am I to argue? It took me quite a bit of coaxing to get him into this pose. I sort of had in mind Michelangelo's surprised bathers. I managed to get the model's angry determined look at the first session (he really didn't like this pose) and it sort of conveys to me the moment when Ceasar sees Brutus coming towards him. I'd really like to finish the whole figure, so I'm working fairly quickly (for me). I might try and convince my Tuesday night paint group to continue this one past the summer. The one problem that I'm having is that the Classens linen on board just does not have the same characteristics as the stretched linen. I'm having a hard time getting the paint to cooperate. It's sliding around and picking up with subsequent brushstrokes. It's driving me crazy because for once I know exactly what I want and I'm having to fumble around. Lesson learned; if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Erica's Nose

2011-08-03T04:41:00.001-07:00

oil on linen. 9"x12" I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be working from the live model in my own studio, with my own lighting, on my own schedule. The money that I've been putting into part time atelier classes for the last seven years has now been re-routed towards the hiring of models. Have I learned all that I need to know to make successful paintings? Who knows, but one thing is for sure; I'm learning a lot doing what I'm doing.

More "Erica 2"

2011-07-27T03:18:00.000-07:00

Erica 2

2011-07-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

"Erica" oil on linen, 9"x12"

Self Portrait Round 3

2011-07-17T03:46:00.001-07:00

This is my latest battle with my small self portrait. I'm going to put this one aside and start another one soon. I'm happy overall with the results. I picked up a few things working in layers this way that I'm going to play around with for a while. It's a little on the brushy side (less so than it looks in this photo), so in the next one I'm goin to use the same process but attempt to be more economical with my strokes; do more with less.

Pochades, etc;

2011-07-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

I went out this morning to do a couple of quick landscape paintings on 8"x10" panels. I'm teaching a landscape workshop next week and i told the students to only buy four colors, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow light, ultramarine blue, and white. Since they were beginning students I thought I would keep the palette simple. Only problem is that I'd never painted with that limited of a palette myself, so I thought I'd better give it a try. I was very happy with the results. The camera is just not working for me anymore I got to come up with a better system. The lemon painting also isn't photographing accurately for some reason, but it gives the general idea. It's a good idea, I think, every once in a while to paint a little looser once in a while. There are things to be learned on the cuff, so to speak, that I won't pick up with my more finished methods.

"Still Life with Portrait" etc;

2011-07-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

"Still Life with Portrait" 16"x20" oil on linen, is almost done. It's got that haze before oiling out for final touch-ups. I'm still not completely satisfied with the portrait placed the way it is. Last night I dreamed that I painted a frame around the portrait, so I think I'll give it a try. The grisaille is from my Tuesday night figure drawing group. We're doing one pose for the summer, about 8 weeks total. This is on a 16"x20" linen on gatorfoam. I wasn't completely happy with my drawing but the model was moving like crazy, so I locked him in, rather than chase the pose, and relied on my previous knowledge to finish the underpainting. I'll research the anatomy and make adjustments where needed. The self portrait is on an 8"x10" linen board. I'm following Speed's procedure of stating the basic planar divisions in the first pass, just trying to get that to feel right with very little detail. Yesterday, I went in and repainted it ading a bit more detail, but I may have lost the drawing, so I'll have to work that out before going in again. It's a challenging way of working and I'm really loving the whole process.

Lemons Lay-in

2011-07-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

This is a lay-in for "Lemons" oil on linen, 9"x12", done over an umber rub-in on a toned canvas. As I stated in a previous post, I've been getting away from using thinned down washes in my underpaintings and using a frottis, rub-in, method instead. I just don't like the milky look of the wash-in and it doesn't motivate me for the overpainting. So after the rub-in I'm painting fairly directly, with large brushes and not too much paint to establish a good foundation for my next finishing pass. I'm really growing to love working with daylight setups and I'm going to have a hard time giving it up come September. I have my arrangement next to a north facing window and the same light shines on my easel. It's a little hard to see at first and it takes some getting used to, but what I've learned to do is to turn on my studio lights at the end of each session and to spend some time adjusting some of the things that look a little awkward with the lights on. It's a little bit like memory painting and it's giving the paintings a character that I didn't anticipate.

More "Erica"

2011-07-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

This is where I'm at with this painting so far. Not a great photo, but it gives the basic idea. At this point all of the canvas has been covered with a lay-in skin. Some parts have already recieved a finsihing skin, the turban, table and part of the wine bottle. Next week I'm going to concentrate on bringing the portrait to a finish. In keeping with the fat over lean principle, I used no oil during the lay-in. For the finishing pass I oil out the surface and than add a bit of oil to my paint mixtures. I've been using an open palette on this one rather than my usual procedure of mixing strings, and it's been kind of liberating. I'm mainly painting with stiffer bristle brushes as opposed to the softer synthetics that I'd been using for a while and I'm enjoying the difference in handling with that as well. I now reserve the synthetic rounds for adding that extra bit of detail or accent. Erica's a great model, and I've got a pretty good likeness, but in the next skin I want to get more of the light and how the specular light on her face really changes into some wonderful hues.

Lay-in For "Mask"

2011-07-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

This is the lay-in, sometimes called "first painting" that was done over the simplified closed grisaille underpainting. I used the paint straight from the tube, no medium or thinner, and I painted it with the intention of establishing my basic forms, colors, and values, without too much fuss or detail (although I couldn't resist a flourish here and there). Now that I have pretty much the "idea" of the painting, I can take some time to look for drawing errors, things that might need to be changed. My goal is to be pretty fearless at this point and surgically remove and replace if needed. Although I'm pleased with the way this skin of paint looks, I know that I'm going to completely repaint it in the next skin, so I'm not falling in love with any particular detail etc; The figure in the background is from a portrait that I recently completed and it's kind of propped up beneath the curtain. It took me a long time to get it to sink into the background and yet still be distinguishable. In the next pass I'll try to push it down a little more and yet, somewhat illogically add a little more chroma.

Mask

2011-07-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is the first stage in a new painting, "Mask" 16"x20" oil on canvas. I've been going back to my Speed and Parkhurst painting books and that's got me experimenting with some different procedures than I normally use. In this case I worked on a canvas that I stained with raw umber, using vine charcoal to draw out the main lines and shadow shapes. It was a little tricky because my stain wasn't completely dry from yesterday, but I didn't want to wait another day so I jumped in. Once the charcoal drawing was set I went over it with thinned umber and a fine brush. Next I rubbed in more umber over the shadow shapes. Lastly, I took some flake white to bring up some of the more extreme lights. The next session will consist of laying in the big tones and local colors with some rudimentary modeling to start the switch over from thinking flat to thinking 3d. I'll also be looking to get a variety of edges going from lost to sharp and everything in between. Well, that's my plan, so let's see what happens.

2011-07-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

I started laying in my first thicker painting pass. My goal is to lay in most of the larger and smaller forms, wet-in-wet, in a broad manner. The photo was taken at the end of the day so some parts are already a little matte while other parts are glossy, but it shows what I'm aiming for. I'm pretty pleased with the way this first finishing layer is going and I'm cataloguing a lot of info to keep in mind when I go for the final finishing pass in the next layer. I still plan to make the final layer with broad strokes, the refinement I'm looking for has to do with the flow of the light, tipping of the forms, lost and found edges, accents and color notes. I had the model leave her dress and scarf behind so I could rough it in and go for more form while she's actually wearing it, next session. I had it on a mannequin, but the mannequin wasn't really filling it out. Anyways, I'm having a blast because I have no deadline and I'm taking the time to learn some things in my own way.

Salmagundi Exhibit

2011-06-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

"Turban, Rose, and Goblet" oil on linen, 11"x 14", has been accepted into the Salmagundi Club non-member annual juried exhibition. The show runs from August 8-19. The reception is on August 19 6-8 p.m.. I will be attending. For more info go to www.Salmagundi.org or my website.

New Stuff

2011-06-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

Started a new painting between model sessions, "Calligraphy" 11"x14" oil on linen. I set this one up next to a north facing window, with my easel getting the same light. I'm not used to painting with such soft light, usually my easel is lit up like a football stadium. I'm enjoying the softer edges and liquidy shadows. I'm painting in a more robust style with some old friends that I haven't used for a while, Signet bristle brushes. I like pushing the paint around and I want the paint to be able to place the paint just so without having to account for the flop of the brush. I'm also getting tired of ebauches and thinning down paint in general. I plan to make my first layer kind of bold and rough and then I'm going to oil out and completely repaint with a little more refinement, not too much. Usually when I start getting restless like this it means I'm about to go through some changes that usually turn out for the better. I'm not motivated if I'm feeling stagnant. The drawing is a copy from a Bellini portrait which has always floored me. I had some free time during regents week so I decided to make a demo for my students that will be in the Advanced Drawing class next year (hopefully). I'm feeling relieved for all those young teachers who've had the chopping block removed. No layoffs! Yay!

More Ericka

2011-06-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's the poster and ebauche for "Ericka as The Wine Seller" 16"x20". The poster photo came out a little glossy because the paint was still wet, but I guess it gives the general idea of what I try to go for in the study. Mainly I want to be able to quickly think of the color scheme as a whole entity and the 5"x7" size allows me to make rapid decisions. I find that this kind of color "gesture" for want of a better term, if done correctly, will carry over into the final piece. On the ebauche (thinned down color layer), I'm painting it in fairly broadly, I don't want to eat the icing before theres a cake. I've been thinking a lot lately about the approach used by the angel academy and I like the idea of a first painting where there's less pressure to nail down all of the detail. I prefer to keep the first layer kind of soupy however because when I start to paint the finishing pass I like some tooth and I like some of the pale underpainting to glow through the top layer.

Dejeuner Final

2011-06-18T02:36:00.000-07:00

"Petite Dejeuner Au Lit" 16"x20" oil on linen.

Art Workshops and Classes

2011-06-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Go to my other blog for info www.SouthShoreAtelier.blogspot.com

The Wine Seller

2011-06-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the completed block-in and underpainting for "The Wine Seller" 16"x20". I'm pretty happy with the way the composition turned out. I've been sketching the arrangement from my imagination for weeks before actually setting the pose and usually there's a big gap between what you imagine and reality, but this one's pretty close. As I was inking the wipeout I was thinking that I was making it too dark, but then when I put the paint on I was having trouble seeing my lines and I started to freak out a little bit, but I stayed calm and eventually the drawing began to emerge. Whew! I've included a lot of fun things to paint when the model's not here so this one should keep me busy for a while.

New Model

2011-06-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of a block-in for a portrait that I'm finally doing in my own studio. I'm about three hours in at this point. I've got everything setup exactly how I wanted it so I'm a happy camper. I have the B&H lighting setup that was recommended to me by Doug Flynt suspended on a hook about twenty feet in the air at the peek of my converted garage studio. I have it back far enough that there's enough light on my easel and that it's the same light that's on the model. That helps a lot with matching the color notes and values. I have my 24 year old daughter working to the right of me on her own drawing, which is looking pretty good (damn her!). Ever since I decided to hire this model my brain has been flooded with these Gerome like images. I made dozens of imaginary sketches but nothing was really clicking. Then I picked up this four foot wine bottle at an auction and something clicked. I made a turban for the model, set up my home made model stand, and we were off and running. I'm going to take my time to get the drawing as close to perfect as I can. I've been trying Scott Waddells technique of knocking back the drawing with an eraser to get a semi fresh start and it's been working pretty good. The only bad thing is I'm going to blow a fuse having to wait until next saturday to get back into it.

Vickie Completed

2011-05-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is the final appearance of the portrait that I've been working on at GCA with two of my friends Carlos and Bob. I'm pretty happy with it, I feel that I've extended my learning curve on this one. I would have liked a bit more time on the jacket and the underlying forms but oh well, game over. After watching Scott Waddells portrait painting video I'm anxious to do another one and wouldn't you know it I've hired a model to pose for me at my home studio on Saturday. I can't wait, I've already got a concept in mind and i built a modeling stand and ordered another lighting setup from B&H photo. On this one I'm really going to be slow rolling those forms because there's no deadline! Yay!

More Breakfast In Bed

2011-05-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm making headway on "Petit Dejeuner Au Lit". I don't know where my wife picked up these rolls, but they're about four weeks old and show no sign of mold. Even the bugs aren't going near them. Maybe they give them to the soldiers in the foreign legion. I'm glad I didn't try to eat one of them. I'm working very hard to get the finish as I go. What's working pretty well for me is that up close the paint looks pretty brushy and expressive, yet from back a ways the forms look pretty refined. I'm definitely getting up out of my chair and stepping back a lot more. I want my strokes to be on the form but I want the "big look" as well.

Vickie and Ingrid

2011-05-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

"Vickie" 16"x20" oil on linen panel, is almost finished. I found out that that yesterday's session may be my last with this model so I spent the day repainting parts of the portrait, tidying things up here and there. I figure I can always use a mannequin for the outfit. The figure drawing, 18"x24", pencil and pastel, may end up being my unofficial graduation drawing from GCA. Part timers don't really graduate, but I've been there for over four years, and I followed the proscribed course of study, cast drawing, cast painting, figure drawing, figure painting. It's a great program, and I highly recommend it, but I'm at the point now where I need more than eight three hour sessions with the model to really get a finished figure painting, so I'm going to start hiring models on my own for one long session a week, where there's no deadline, the paintings done when I'm done, and then I'll keep doing portraits etc: in shared sessions with friends. I'll probably still take an occasional workshop there, so I'll still have one toe in the water, so to speak.

Svetlana and Petit Dejeuner au Lit

2011-04-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got a decent photo of "Svetlana" 9"x12". I read a statement by William Whitaker saying that he takes his digital photos out side on overcast days, so I thought I'd give it a try. I set my cameras white balance and the photo came out pretty good. I'm going to try this with a few other paintings and see if I get better results. I'm slowly crawling around my still life painting and fortunately the bread hasn't gone moldy yet. I'm seting up north light in my studio so I'm planning to do a bunch of daylight paintings now that the days are longer.

More Vickie

2011-04-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much done with the portrait on this one, except for a few touchups here and there. It's a little sunken in at this point. I oil out lightly before each session but by the time I take the photo the next day it's sunken back in. It'll all pop back nicely when I spray it with re-touch varnish. Some artists like to use retouch varnish to oil out. I tried it I didn't like it. It's too slick. I use refined linseed oil cut in half with oms. I brush it on and then lightly pat most of it away with a Viva towel. I'm glad I made the portrait life size on this one, it's allowing me to really dig in on the subtlety of the forms. My studio mates Carlos and Bob are into old hats, hence the 1920's looking specimen on top of the models head. I'm not even sure what to call it; is it a hat, a semi hat, an oversized barrett, I don't know but it does make a nice dark accent against the head.

Petit Dejeuner Au Lit

2011-04-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Heres the poster, block-in, and ebauche for "Petit Dejeuner Au Lit" 16'x20". I did the underpainting over a raw umber toned canvas, to get the paleness of the ebauche to look a little less milky. The background interior is a corner of my bedroom which I'm in the process of doing a small painted study for. I plan to paint the final version from the study and drawings. One of the things that they've been pushing at GCA lately is the idea of taking reality and altering it somewhat to suit a specific goal rather than just rendering things as they are. Although this scene isn't that much of a stretch, it does include an arrangement that couldn't actually exist in my bedroom. Eventually I'm going to include some figures with a bit of narrative. One of the things that I tell my students and workshop participants is that if you're not getting excited at the underpainting stage, don't go any further, this is where you'll find the spark to carry you through all the long, hard work that's ahead.

A Few Things

2011-04-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

"Moon Box" 11"x14" oil on canvas on board, "Vickie" oil on canvas on board 16"x20", "Still Room" 16"x20" oil on canvas. "Still Room" is pretty much finished. I locked in the background this morning before the light changed and then I spent a few hours tweaking it to get it to harmonize with the foreground. That was harder than I thought it was going to be. "Moon Box" was painted using a very wierd and unique method. I have an Ott light next to the box shining through the hole, my studio lights turned off, and I placed my easel next to a window where I allowed just enough light through to be able to see my canvas and palette. It wasn't easy but it was the only way to get the effect that I was after. My once a week portrait is coming along, albeit slowly. I'm not loving the raccoon shadow around the eye so I may try to find a way to play that down.

More "Still Room"

2011-03-27T13:00:00.001-07:00

I'm making good progress on "Still Room", 16"x20", oil on linen. Some parts are not oiled out yet so they appear lighter with that hazy sheen that paint gets because I don't like to use medium. I'm happy with the way it's going so far and I wish I had completed the little background interior but the lights only good in the morning so I'll have to wait until next week. Too bad, because I'm really excited to blast that background in and see how the whole thing holds together.

Burnt Umber

2011-03-13T14:50:00.001-07:00

Progress Shots

2011-03-06T13:59:00.001-08:00

"Study for Victoria" 5"x7", "Victoria" 16"x20", "The Still Room" 16"x20"

I painted the poster study of Victoria at my portrait group session. Then when I got home I transferred my drawing to a canvas and did a rub in. I feel like I've got a better handle on my flesh palette this time then my last portrait. The still life is coming along and some subtle changes are starting to happen in my work. I'm not sure what they mean but I'm digging them so I'm letting things progress naturally.

Andre (figure painting)

2011-03-02T13:44:00.000-08:00

This is as far as I'm going to be able to get on this painting. It was nine three hour sessions and I had to miss one. I decided to skip the portrait and focus on the torso. I relied heavily on the poster to keep me on track as I windowshaded my way across the form. I'm a little bummed that I didn't get to do more as I think was turning out to be one of my finest paintings. I got a little glimpse of what's possible though and I'm psyched to do more! My instructor at GCA really opened my eyes to the color possibilities and I'm hoping that I'll be able to spot just as much color nuance in a lighter skinned model.

New Stuff

2011-02-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

"poster for "Still Room" 4"x6", Underpainting for "Still Room" 16"x20", Wipeout for "Moon Box" panel, 11"x14"

Workshop Update

2011-02-20T03:31:00.001-08:00

Here are two pics from my three hour workshop at the Islip Museum of Art. I took more photos but these were the only ones that came out. It was thirty eager students crammed into a room sitting side by side at Pennsylvania smorgasbord style seating. Thanks to Carol, who works for the museum, for helping me to make it work.The event was sponsored by Grumbacher/Chartpak with the idea of introducing the students to Grumbacher's Max line of oil miscible paints. We worked from an enlarged photo of some daisies in a metal vase. Normally I don't work from photos or teach with photos but with a three hour time frame in the space provided it seemed like a good idea. As I explained to the group my goal was to give them a workable plan for constructing a painting, not neccessarily that they would complete a painting in three hours (although most of them did). We started by drawing on the canvas with vine charcoal where I talked about the envelope, straight line drawing, drawing through forms, and setting up the block-in. I explained that they needed to switch their brains into abstract thinking mode and see the photo as an acumulation of 2d shapes. Then we did a rub-in using raw umber.( I explained that water miscible does not mean water mixable so a rub-in would work better than a wash in). We talked about the importance of keeping the worlds of light and darkness clearly separate. Next we began to lay in the tones in a broad tiling manner working out of a dark base. The students seemed quite surprised to be painting without any medium whatsoever and getting good results. Somehow it's been pounded into our heads that you have to paint with medium. I told them to add something when you need it. If you're painting without medium and it's working, then don't add it just because you think you should. Anyways, the group kept up right along with me and even though they were using paper plates for palettes and painting on table tops instead of easels, they did not complain once and completed some pretty awesome paintings. As this was my first workshop, I guess I'm lucky that things went so well and now that I know what to expect I'll try to make the next one even better.

Workshop

2011-02-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

I have been hired by Grumbacher/Chartpak as a workshop artist instructor and demonstrator. I have already given a few demos at Michaels Arts and Crafts in Massapequa, N.Y. on using their Academy line of acrylics to paint landscapes and still lifes. The next one is going to be a bit different. It's Feb. 19 1-4p.m. at the Islip Museum of Art. This workshop will focus on using Grumbacher's Max line of water miscible oil paints with a focus on still life. They sent me a batch to try out and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I put the paint through some tests and it held up well. Water miscible does not mean water mixable. You can't thin the paint down like you would with mineral spirits. I tried underpainting using a rub-in technique and that worked great and is actually a sounder practice than breaking down the paint with mineral spirits. Anyway the workshop is apparently sold out with thirty students so I'm very excited.

Stages

2011-02-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

These shots show a couple of the stages that a painting might go through, from the drawing, to the poster study to the underpainting. The poster is a little sunken in, I did it yesterday, but it helped me to get a handle on the skin tones and modulations. Andre is pretty dark skinned but he doesn't have an ounce of fat so he gets these really cool purple lights that react with his warmer body tones. My instructor at GCA gave me some tips on what colors to use and after that I was able to nail it. I spent this morning tubing up my colors so next session I'll be ready to go. I had meant to do the ebauche from life but the poster took up most of my time so the instructor suggested I do a simplified version at home using the study as a guide.

The still life drawing is for another 16"x20". It's just about ready for transfer. I'm including a peek of an interior in the background. I got the idea from looking at the paintings of Gerome where he sometimes shows a courtyard that unexpectedly opens up into a little slice of a vista.

Progress Shots

2011-01-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

"Creamer and Vase" 9"x12", "Andre" 16"x20", "Painted Vase" 16"x20", "Svetlana" 9"x12".

I'm still having a bit of trouble getting the hang of my 500.00 DSLR (which I am tempted to smash against the wall), but I keep telling myself once I figure it out it will all be worth it.

Progress Shots

2011-01-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

"Svetlana" 9"x12", "Painted Vase" 16"x20". The small portrait is crawling along. I have three more sessions with the model so I should be able to bring it close to completion. The still life is mostly completed, I have to oil it out and give it one more finishing pass. Both are a little sunken in at this point and will look better in the final shots.

Painting With Confidence

2011-01-16T04:09:00.000-08:00

There is a bridge that at some point every artist must cross. On one side of the bridge lies tentative brushstrokes, muddy paint, overmodeling, and lack of confidence. On the other side waits purposeful brushstrokes, mastery of materials, clear concepts, and a solid belief that you are on the right track. How do you get from one side to the other? That's the big question.
One factor that you can't control is that it will take time. You have to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. You have to give yourself time to learn your craft and evolve. There are, however, things that you can do to help the process along and make sure that you don't end up spinning your wheels in one place, not moving. Preparation is a key element to painting with confidence. Do your homework. Read everything that you can get your hands on. Know your business. Very often when I'm taking a class I'm amazed at how uninformed and unprepared some of the students are. If the instructor has to take time just to get you to point A, how will you ever get to point D?
Usually when I'm floundering around, tap-tap-tapping my brushstrokes, completely in panic mode, it's because I haven't done all the preliminary work that I needed to do in order to successfully paint. Some artist's have the idea that painting should be improvisational, like jazz music. What they may not be considering is the thousands of hours those musicians spend practicing scales and technique. When I was first learning to paint, my instructor, Robert Armetta, told me that I should do a lot of small, single session paintings. They are a good way to develop confidence in paint manipulation and all the problem solving is done on the spot. You don't let the painting go until it's truly "done". I did a lot of these. I put the paint on thick and I tried to use just enough brushstrokes to create form. It's kind of like painting a small still life with a landscape sketch mentality; get it down quick before the light changes.
You have to learn to trust your own instincts. There are a lot of artists out there who are absolutely certain that there is only one right way to paint, theirs! Try to deconstruct what ever method you are using into stages. Analyze each step and determine what's working and what needs improvement. My achilles heel is drawing. I've always been good with brush and paint but I realized those skills weren't worth much if the drawing didn't hold up. So I went and got the training that I needed and that has in turn helped my painting.
Try not to go into panic mode while you're painting. It's normal to have doubts, but also understand that the mind can play tricks, so if you have a plan, stick with it. Later, after you have put down your brush, you can reflect on different choices you might have made, and use those lessons to do better on the next one.
If you are serious about making art than you must have something you want to impart to the viewer. Technique is just a means to an end. You don't want your "message" to be short-circuited by being overly pre-occupied with the craft aspect.Get your craft to the point where you're not thinking about it while you're painting. You're doing what you do. If technique is important to you, that will come through in the manner in which you put forth your ideas. I prepare for most of my paintings with thumbnail sketches, color studies, a full scale drawing, underpainting and a pre-mixed palette. That's what gives me the confidence to proceed. Find what works for you and stick with it. Add slow refinements. Jumping around too much leaves you no place to start from. It is my belief that anyone can learn to be a competent painter. It's not really that complicated. To be a great artist is a different story. That has more to do with what's inside your head. Forget the tortured genius cliche. The great artists of the past all painted with the confidence that can only come from arduos study and long hours at the easel.

New Camera

2011-01-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

I recently sold a few paintings so I turned the money around into a digital SLR. I felt like I wasn't getting good enough pictures with my Nikon Coolpix point and shoot. This is about as inexpensive a dslr as you can get it's a Canon EOS Rebel XS. I'm shooting under daylight flourescent bulbs so I set the white balance to flourescent. Even with that I still had to do a lot of tweaking with photoshop to get it close to right. I'm not sure you can ever get exactly what the painting appears like (the value range of a monitor is pretty narrow) but I did re-calibrate my monitor so hopefully everyone is seeing what I'm seeing. I kept the painting right next to me as I played with it on photoshop to try and match the colors and values. This is definitely an improvement over what I had. I think I'll just really take the time now to get each shot perfect immediately after the painting is finished rather than try to do a bunch at one time. Theres no point in killing yourself in the studio and then being represented by less than satisfactory images.

More "Painted Vases"

2011-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

That tall vase kept me on my toes, it took me a bit of noodling to get it to sit back and yet still have some light on the forms. This pure windowshading is a fun exercise but it can be nerve racking. My hats off to Scott Burdick and Jeffrey Larson for making it look easy. I'm breaking a few rules. My center of interest isn't on the right and it sits forward of the other objects. I'm also painting alla prima over a carefully worked up drawing, not really the way that alla prima is supposed to work, but it appears to be working out okay anyway.

Painting Out Of 2010

2010-12-31T08:19:00.001-08:00

A little more progress on the new one, finished first GCA figure painting in color, tweaked birdbath painting. A good way to end the year. Next year I plan to be bolder with my color, brushstrokes, and compositions, but boldness guided by knowledge and planning. Can you plan for boldness? we'll see! Happy New Year!

Painted Vase

2010-12-30T03:52:00.000-08:00

"Painted Vase" oil on linen, 16"x20" . It's been a while since I've worked on a larger canvas and it feels pretty good, kinda liberating. I decided to skip all the amenities; wipe-out,ebauche,poster study, and just go for it. The oranges and the grapes have a brilliant color that I know was not going to last for very long, so I went for it. Artists often talk about obliterating the white of the canvas but I've heard artists such as Scott Burdick, Jeffrey Larson and Stephen Gjertson talk about how they see the values set up on their palette and use that as their guide, at least in the beginning stages. Stephen Gjertson has a wonderful half started painting of some bowls of fruit on his website under the heading "working methods" found in the "interviews" section. I've worked this way before but one of the things that I'm finding is that it is much easier to get the edges to look the way that I want them to and the white of the canvas is also forcing me to paint a bit thicker in the lights. We'll see what happens when I'm all done. Looking forward to a new year, hope you are too!

First Sketch

2010-12-29T04:21:00.000-08:00

This is a little 5"x7" sketch from my imagination that I've been thinking about doing for a few weeks. I'm fascinated by the process that artists had to go through to compete in the Prix de Rome. They would be given a subject and had to come up with thumbnails, sketches and a fully realized color study that if they were chosen would be worked up into a full blown painting using life references. So eventually I would like to follow that process for this painting. The subject is a figure in a dark studio holding up a panel to a window that causes the light to flow in a beam onto a table where a model of a gothic building stands. I'm not sure what it all means, maybe it's about what inspires me, I don't want to figure it out before I've even started to really paint it. My next step will be to construct a box with a little tableau and see what the light might actually do in this kind of setup. Hopefully this summer I'll be able to hire a model and see it happen. That will give me a lot of time to really study the idea. But this little sketch already has my blood going and I guess that's what's supposed to happen.

Bird Bath

2010-12-26T05:59:00.001-08:00

I finished the first finishing pass, it's a little sunken in but it gives the general idea. I probably should have taken a photo of the underpainting, it had a really cool look. I decided to use a frottis (rub-in) on top of the wipeout to get a general color scheme before I started to window shade my way through the painting. The bird bath was taken from my backyard so it had a wonderful weathered patina but it also meant that the surface was so dull and matte that it absorbed the light like a black hole. This is where my cast training came in handy I just imagined each forms relation to the light and painted it that way while still keeping the values very compressed in order to still keep the weathered look. I also found a lot of subtle hvc shifts that were fun to play with. The background was treated rather sketchy so as not to overkill the amount of detail in the painting and to act as a foil to the birdbath and flower. One of the things that I'm beginning to notice is that when I'm loading these paintings to post them the finished paintings and the poster study, when seen in a one inch thumbnail, look almost identical. That's good. that means my small studies are serving their intended purpose and that they are helping me to conceptualize a bit more rather than just eyeballing the arrangements.

Bird Bath

2010-12-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

"Bird Bath" 11'x14" oil on canvas. Heres the poster study (5"x7"), drawing and wipeout for a new painting. I've been thinking about this composition for a while. My original plan was to paint it out of doors with the sky reflecting in the water around the flower but I procrastinated so now it sits in my studio. I still might do another one like that in the spring. Anyways I kind of like the idea of the contrast between this very dull colored object and the burgundy red background all being keyed off of the flower. The poster is pretty spot on so I'm debating whether or not to do a fully colored ebauche (underpainting) or just jump right in.

Pumkin Final

2010-12-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

"Pumpkin and White Onions" 11"x14" oil on linen. I worked hard on this one to achieve a variety of textures and a heirarchy of detail. The pumpkin is pretty tight, next the onions and then varying degrees of focus for the rest. I wanted to give the feel of the fded box without necessarily painting every crevace. I kept stepping back quite a bit and asking myself if it had the feel as well as the look. I like the shadow box effect of the hanging cloth and I think I'm going to explore it in some other paintings.

Form Crawlings

2010-12-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

I got three more hours in each on the figure and the portrait. I'm using the same pre-mixed palette for each, under the same lighting, with different results. Go figure. I'm happy with the way the figure is going, I'm not sure about the portrait yet. I wish that I had done a smaller study first, but I thought I had only five sessions so I wanted to get right to it. Now it turns out I may be able to get in an extra five. I'm thinking that I may have overdone the light on the zygomatics and maybe also that the cheek that turns away could be brought down altogether a step or two. This is where having the poster as a guide comes in handy. I'll stick with this one until I get it right, but next time I'm definitely doing a poster. It's better to have one eye socket that's perfect than a whole face that's off.

More Pumpkin

2010-11-26T12:24:00.001-08:00

It seems like I've had this one going for quite some time. Good thing the pupkin and onions are still okay. I worked hard to capture the texture of the pumpkin without destroying the big light effect. I'm using a large glass tabletop palette these days which is forcing me to slow down a bit and consider each brushstroke. An aded benefit is that it's less wearing on the brush when I occasionally have to mix between color strings. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Sometimes I have to remind myself just how much I have to be thankful for.

Starts

2010-11-21T12:13:00.001-08:00

Here's some of the things that I've been working on at the GCA. The figure and the portrait are both on 9"x12" linen on board. I'm using New Dimensions panels which have Claessens oil primed linen on them and they're a big improvement over the Utrecht panels. The poster study is on a 5"x7" canvas board. I can't say enough about poster studies. If you're not using them I recommend you give them a try. I use them for two things. One, as a color swatch that I apply the paint onto as I'm mixing my colors to make sure that I stay in the same range, and two, to make sure I keep my values compressed withing a given area so that I don't roll out of a shadow too abruptly or stay dark for too long. For these paintings I'm using pre-mixed strings of colors that I put into syringes ( I got the idea from some of the artists at rational painting). I'm using a very limited palette of flake white, van dyke brown,vermilion and yellow ochre. I'm learning to temper the colors with neutrals as I go in order to better turn down the forms away from the light. The portrait I'm working on in an informal setting with some other GCA artists that I'm really awed to be working along side. I'm going to try to pick up as much as I can without being intrusive.

Pumpkin Underpainting and Study

2010-11-04T16:06:00.001-07:00

"Pumpkins, Onions, and Ladle" 11"x14", study on a 5"x7" canvas board. I originally wanted a white pumpkin with the orange one but I couldn't find one so I substituted white onions. The shadow box like background came about accidentally because I have this sitting under a previous still life arrangement and part of it hangs over. At first I was going to wait until I could break down the above set up but then I kind of liked it and decided to go with it. Que Sera.

Figure Studies

2010-10-31T12:16:00.001-07:00

Some of my latest figure paintings. The top two are on 8"x10" panels, three hour poses, and the bottom is an 11"x14", about twenty one hours. The top one and the longer pose one were done at Grand Central, the other one at the national art league in douglaston. The lighting at grand central is way better than the setup that I'm using at the art league. I've joined another informal figure group that meets at GCA saturday mornings, so with that and my Tuesday group and the saturday class I'm getting quite a bit of figure work in. It's about time.

Listening Devices

2010-10-27T15:03:00.001-07:00

"Listening Devices" 11"x14" oil on linen Another one of my "thematic" still life paintings. I'm not sure what it all means, but I enjoyed conjuring it up and then painting it.

Red Potatoes Final

2010-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

"Red Potatoes, Book, and Vase" oil on linen 8"x10"

More "..Devices"

2010-10-06T13:12:00.001-07:00

Finished the ebauche over an earlier wipeout and now I'm slowly crawling my way across the forms. Some people like to draw out the letters on their objects but I prefer to block in the form first and then just blast in the letters while the paint is still wet. Most of the time I'm not really trying to match the exact letters, I'm just going for an overall feel, I don't really want people reading my paintings.

Red Potatoes

2010-09-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Another 8"x10" canvas. Theres something about red potatoes that makes me want to paint them. Theres a range of subtle chroma shifts and a kind of smoldering intensity where the brighter reds peek through the earthier colors. I'm starting to figure out that this is the way that works best for me. The colored ebauche has it's merits but theres something about seeing the simple wipeout come to life that gets my blood going. I'm willing to take the risk of failure because when I get it right it has a spontaneity that I can't plan for.

Figure Study

2010-09-19T04:15:00.001-07:00

This was done on an 8"x10" panel from a three hour pose with my Tuesday night figure drawing group. After seeing some studies posted by Tim Stotz on Studio Escalier's blog, Silver Fortress, I was inspired to try a study in a similar vein.I'm not sure that I'm on the same page (I've never studied with Tim) but what I did here was lay down a brushstroke for each value change relative to the direction of the light, tiling my way across the form. I kept all of my edges sharp to keep the clarity of what each plane change was doing. The lighting that we're using is not ideal. The walls are all white and the model stand is light gray. I'm using a very powerful incandescent spotlight to burn through all of the ambient light and at least on some level give a unified cut to the direction of the light. Using this method was interesting because it made me conceptualize the light even more and coincidentally this came up as the main topic in the discussion of the figure painting I'm working on at GCA. How to unify the darks in the figure ground relationship and push the lights forward to give emphasis to the salient parts of the figure. So I think I will keep going with these little painting studies for a while before I pick up my pencil again.

Listening Devices

2010-09-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

poster 6"x8", canvas 11"x14".

Moroccan Sweets

2010-09-09T12:10:00.001-07:00

"Moroccan Sweets" 11"x14" oil on linen. I did a lot of repainting on this one. Even though my method is to try and nail it on the first finishing pass I'm getting the feeling that my style is a lot like lasagna and taste better the second time around.

More Jugs and Oranges

2010-09-02T14:02:00.001-07:00

Here's a progress shot. The oranges are already a little sunken in even though I only did them yesterday, that's what happens in a heat wave. I'm working really hard to get the jug on the left to sit in the shadows, I've almost got it but I'm not satisfied so I'll oil out and go back in after I complete the background. Everything is relative, hence the need for a poster, but even with the poster study some things will slip by you, I guess that's what keeps us coming back.

Covered Jugs Poster and Ebauche

2010-09-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to alter my original lighting setup a bit. After looking at the painting and realizing that I had so many objects with a similar look I decided to put up some baffles so that the light would be dimmer on the left side while emphasizing the jugs on the right. I didn't want the painting to look like a catalog shot. It also has more of a natural daylight feel with the softer edges of the objects that are more in shadow. Generally I don't do too much blurring of edges to get an effect. I realized that if I'm working too hard to make an edge disappear than I probably don't have the correct value. When you have the right value in the right place very little smushing of edges are needed. The poster is on a very small 6"x8" panel which keeps me from getting overly fussy. Generally I do the poster before the ebauche so that I have some idea where I'm going and if I'm fortunate to be able to do them on the same day then the colors are already mixed and I can just blast it in.

Covered Jugs and Clementines

2010-08-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

Started a new painting, "Covered Jugs and Clementines" 11"x14" oil on linen. I decided to push the drawing towards further refinement before making the transfer on this one. Usually I would stop at the block-in stage, where I'm drawing from point to point with straight lines, but I've decided to step it up a little bit to see what happens. I'm also using a different transfer method than usual. Normally I would trace the drawing, flip it over and trace the back with sharpened vine charcoal and then transfer that to the canvas by tracing again. This time I traced the drawing with a black ball point pen, covered the entire back with vine charcoal, and then traced it onto the canvas going over the lines with a red ball point pen. Then I used brush and india ink to finalize the charcoal lines. So it's a little more exact but there are still some problems. One is that the texture of the double primed linen can make using the ball point pen on the tracing paper a little squirrelly. The other is that sometimes the charcoal can be hard to make out. I was inspired to try this method by the demo I saw on Doug Flynt's blog, but he makes a photocopy of his drawing, then covers the back with raw umber and does the transfer. I may try that on the next one and see if I can get an even cleaner line. I'm trying to streamline my process in order to move forward a bit. Painting is hard enough that I want as many of the cards stacked in my favor as possible before I even pick up the brush.

More Eggs and Portrait Study

2010-08-25T14:28:00.001-07:00

The portrait is from my bi-weekly figure group. It's on a prestained 8"x10" oil on board. I decided to use a grisaille palette to prepare for the figure painting class that I'll be taking saturdays at GCA. It was a three hour pose, so I had to work pretty fast. I drew directly with the brush and dove in. I was inspired by the small premier coup portraits of Travis Schlaht. The only problem was that one of my fellow artists started a conversation with the model while she was posing, so I got a real lesson in portrait painting on the go!.

Turban Final

2010-08-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

"Turban, Rose, and Goblet" oil on linen, 11"x14"

The hardest thing about this painting was that I was dealing with a lot of specular (highlights) light. I couldn't do my usual stepping back, squinting and comparing, because the light would change with each position. In that case I had to pretty much go with my instinct and if it felt right I would leave it. I did go back in and rework some areas without, hopefully, losing the integrity of my first impression. The turban was fun to paint and I might be tempted to try another one. Anyways, this still life was inspired by looking at the paintings of Charles Bargue. I don't know if that comes across at all but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Egg Jars

2010-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

"Egg Jars" 8"x10" oil on linen on wood. Transferred my drawing to a panel that I had previously stained. Then I decided to use a hatching technique for the underpainting. I'm not sure why, I just kinda felt like it. I don't think I'll do a colored ebauche over this I think I'll just dig in and start window shading it tomorrow. I'll probably start with the eggs in order to key the values in the painting.

More Turban

2010-08-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Got the rose in last week and finished the turban today. Took a week off to go camping. No painting, just chillaxing with the family. I can already see some areas that need touching up but all in all, so far so good. I really pushed the chroma on the rose to make it stand out.

Eakins Study

2010-08-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

" Study after Eakins" oil on linen on board, 8"x10". Eakins father sounds like he was the perfect "artists' dad". He supported young Eakins decision to study art. He stuck by his son when he was ousted from the Pennsylvania Academy of Art teaching staff, under what must have been very trying conditions for this stolid family man. He also took Eakins side in the dispute with his sister and her husband, who was a former Eakins student, eventually asking them to leave his household. The pose that he's in also looks very tiring and considering the way that Eakins usually worked on his portraits he probably put in some long hours modeling. In the end though he must have been pleased with the result as Eakins painting has to rank as one of the best portrayals of an artist's father by his son.

Eakins Senior

2010-08-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

Last week, I attended a lecture relating to academic art by the artist Graydon Parrish at the Grand Central Academy of Art ( great lecture, very informative!) Since I had some time to kill before the lecture I thought I would drop in at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and look at some of the artists that would be featured in Graydon's lecture. While there I also went looking for some of Eakins work because I've been doing a lot of reading about him lately. Strangely enough, the Met currently has a lot of the American wing paintings on exhibit in some kind of storage room, locked into glass cases. In a way, it's good because very few people seem to wander in there and it facilitates prolonged study. Anyways, I spent a good deal of time looking at "The Writing Master". I've seen it before and it always captivates me. Eakins was a student of Gerome, and Gerome always claimed that Rembrandt was his favorite artist. Other than the story telling aspect though, I can find no Rembrandt influence in his paintings. Eakins painting of his father is a different story. This painting seems clearly indebted to Rembrandt without overly emulating his style. So in between drying times on other paintings I decided to give "Eakins senior" a shot. The reproduction I'm using is only about three inches tall and I'm working on an 8"x10" panel. I'm experimenting with the method I see demonstrated on Tony Ryders site which is to use an open palette (no pre-mixed color strings) and to window shade my brush strokes working from a dark base (the paint on your palette). It's fun to change things up once in a while. I'm sure this is nothing like the way that Eakins worked so I consider this more of a study than a copy.

Turban Ebauche

2010-08-03T05:05:00.000-07:00

I blocked in the color, thinning it with oms, over the raw umber nad black wipeout. My main goal at this stage is to ballpark my color scheme and to have some color on the canvas to compare the eventual finished work. I will be asking myself questions such as; is this warmer or cooler than it looks now, darker or lighter, less chroma or more chroma. Because windowshading is such a think-on-your-feet type of painting it's helpful to have an underpainting to make comparisons with. I will use the poster study sort of like a color swatch, in that I will be putting my strings of color directly onto the poster, to make sure that they at least start off as an exact match. This helps to keep the color consistent and not piecemeal.

Croquis, Etude', Ebauche

2010-07-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

These images are in reverse of the order that I wanted to post them. Anyways, I thought on this one that I'd try something different, break out of my comfort zone. The small sketch on looseleaf paper is my thumbnail from my imagination. I made quite a few of them, this one is the closest to the final image. Next, while I had a break at work, I made a study using acrylic paint on a canvas panel.(what I have my students use in class). That was also painted from my imagination. The drawing was my attempt to arrange a setup that was pretty close to what I had imagined and then make a life drawing. After making the drawing I realized that the composition worked better with a vertical format so I cropped it and transferred it to an 8"x10" canvas. I did a wipeout using umber and the next day I did an ebauche (the top image). If I'm pleased with the result I will square up the drawing to a larger canvas and set up the still life objects in my studio, so that I can get a little more detail and form. I started painting the fruit and potatoes today and so far so good. The landscape background is a little bit of my backyard and mostly a remembered river scene. My tentative title is "Voyage".

Turban, Rose, and Goblet

2010-07-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the poster study and wipe-out for a new still life, "Turban, Rose, and Goblet" 11'x14" on oil primed linen. I was looking at some of Charles Bargues paintings the other day and I wanted to do something with the color key that he used in one of his Bakshi-Bazouk (sic) paintings. I twisted up the turban from two pieces of silk like cloth. The rose is yellow and has that bright Naples yellow appearance that can be found in so many of his paintings. Anyways, the "turban" is going to be fun and challenging to paint. It has some whiplash highlights that remind me of graffiti. I love doing poster studies. You can really let your hair down and just go for it. I'm also finding them very helpful with getting a grip on overall tonal structure and color composition. It takes you off of the micro and on to the macro, thinking of the painting as a whole entity rather than a collection of nicely done parts.

Morgan Complete

2010-07-29T03:30:00.000-07:00

I ended up painting right through to the last minute of the last session. whew! Nine sessions, three hour segments, once a week, and because I worked with a group of artists it only ended up costing me about fifteen dollars a session. I would love to keep this going and just continue to do eight week sessions but the artists that I work with are not classical realists and they found it difficult to keep their interest over the long period of time. I worked on a 9"x12" inch canvas because 27 hours is barely enough time to do a detailed figure painting. 50 hours would be more to my liking. I'll be taking figure or portrait painting at GCA this fall so that will keep the ball rolling. One of the artists in my group was asking me if I found it difficult to transition from still life painting to figure painting. She's a landscape painter and she was having a lot of trouble switching gears. I told her that what I do is try to keep the process as uniform as possible so that whatever small gains I get from a painting can be repeated and built on in the next one. If you re=invent the wheel for each new painting it's hard to chart your progress. For instance on this one my progress was mostly in the area of conceptualizing the light and getting the right chroma for the skin tones. The models skin tones were a lot less chromatic then I envisioned them in my first pass. I had the spotlight almost directly over her head and slightly behind her. Once I started to ask myself what that light should look like on each part of the form I was able to get the overall light structure to look more unified. My problem area was and is painting the shadow side of the face. I din't want to just leave it an undistiguishable mass without in some way indicating the position of the eye. A lot of squinting and re-painting and I'm still not satisfied. This will be my starting point for the next one. Get this right before moving on.